While shopping for a few bits and pieces tonight on the way home I decided to grab a couple of things for dinner. A nice bunch of triple curled parsley caught my eye which led me then to consider fennel and where that might lead me, inevitably in an Italian themed direction. You could make this with veal rather than chicken, although that would change the overall flavour somewhat, rabbit would also work.

After having a sticky date pudding (with ginger) in Uralla earlier this year (at The Top Pub – go visit it, it’s fantastic) I was determined to try one at home. I’m a firm believer that a pudding of this sort should be steamed rather than baked, as you get a much more pudding like texture from it that way.
However, steaming on the stove is a pain, so I decided to attempt to steam it in my slow cooker.This recipe is based on one from Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion.

It was a resounding success! Moist, succulent pudding with very little prep time and a set and forget cooking method.

Ingredients

Pudding

170g Dates (Angus Park are good), chopped in to thirds

1 tspn of BiCarb Soda

300ml of Boiling Water

80g Crystalline Ginger, sliced

60g Butter – not margarine but real butter

170g Castor Sugar

2 eggs

170g Flour – Stephanie calls for Self-Raising Flour, but I used Plain

½ tspn of Vanilla Essence

Sauce

The following are very approximate measures as I just threw it together off the cuff.

75g Butter

250g Dark Brown Sugar

100ml Cream, although I used about that in whipped cream

½ tspn of Vanilla Essence

15ml of Dark Rum

Method

Place the dates, BiCarb and water in a bowl, stir, then let sit to soften the dates.
Cream the butter, sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, whisking well. Add the vanilla. Fold in the flour and when combined, pour in the date mixture and stir well.

Now prepare your slow cooker. Place two jar lids in the base, and approx 500-750ml of water. Make sure your pyrex loaf dish fits in the cooker with sufficient room between it and the lid to allow for pudding expansion.

Pour your mix in to the pyrex loaf dish, place in the slow cooker, cover and turn on to Auto (or High if your slow cooker doesn’t have an Auto setting). Cook for 9 hours or so, dropping to Low in the last hour.

Just before serving, make your sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add sugar and stir well until combined. Add the cream, string well (reduce heat if necessary to avoid separation), add the vanilla and rum and cook for a further 5 to 10 minutes. Sauce should be slightly thick, but still very pourable.

Cut slices of the pudding, pour sauce over the top and serve with Ice-Cream or Custard.

Ingredients.

400g rump steak

7 or 8 Kalamata Olives

1 Onion

1/8th of a preserved lemon, sliced thinly

4 mushrooms

4 cloves of Garlic

Oregano

Mint

Balsamic Vinegar

Salt & Pepper

2Tbspn Tomato Paste

Steamed Rice

Method

Dice the onion and garlic and sauté in olive oil.
Thinly slice the steak, add to the pan and brown.
Cut the mushrooms in to eighths, add to the pan with the Oregano and Mint.
Add ¼ teaspoon of salt (roughly) and a good amount of cracked black pepper.

When close to done, add the tomato paste and a little water and cook until the liquid is reduced.